Star tailback said rushing attack will be spread out
After everything changed for South Carolina tailback Marcus Lattimore last season with one play against Mississippi State, the junior is determined for everything to stay the same.
The play, where Lattimore was blocking for sophomore running back Bruce Ellington and tore his ACL, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2011 season, has replayed in Lattimore’s mind over and over again. The conclusion: He wouldn’t change anything.
“Anybody who would have been out there blocking like I was would have torn their ACL,” Lattimore said. “I’d never had a serious injury, so I’m not really even concerned about doing what I do. The way I run is the way I run. I know I’m going to be healthy.”
Though Lattimore’s bruising, downhill running style isn’t going anywhere, he said he expects the rushing attack to be more spread out with the depth the Gamecocks have at running back this season.
Ellington, senior Kenny Miles, sophomore Brandon Wilds, redshirt freshman Shon Carson and true freshman Mike Davis could all be fixtures in the backfield, along with dual-threat quarterback Connor Shaw. Carson is out indefinitely with a wrist injury.
“The whole season that’s what we’re going to do — we’re going to share the load,” Lattimore said. “With all of the talent we’ve got, we’ve got to share the load.”
Lattimore hasn’t taken more than a handful of carries in scrimmages, but running backs coach Everette Sands told reporters he’s looking to Lattimore to get 75 percent of the snaps in a typical game.
Miles’ role could involve more receiving, which he’s been successful at through preseason scrimmages, diving for an 18-yard pass in the Gamecocks’ last open scrimmage. Head coach Steve Spurrier said Miles solidified himself as the No. 2 running back.
Miles has also seen Lattimore’s confidence in his knee return.
“In the last scrimmage, he felt a whole lot better after getting hit around and knocked around a little bit and getting a feel for it,” Miles said.
“There’s a lot of things you can learn from a Heisman candidate and a guy like Marcus Lattimore,” Davis said. “He tells me what to do and what things to look out for and he’s a great role model.”
Davis said he’s unsure if coaches intend for him to redshirt this season, and he doesn’t have a personal preference. With Carson out indefinitely and Wilds’ sprained ankle, running back depth has thinned in the preseason. Freshman Kendric Salley is a likely redshirt candidate, having not practiced yet as he recovers from a knee injury suffered last fall.
“My thought is to make sure I have three guys ready to go,” Sands said. “The top two guys will get the bulk of the reps, but I want to have three ready to go.”
The injury didn’t change Lattimore’s style, and it didn’t change his cemented spot as the No. 1 rusher for the team. Powering forward for a first down in a short yardage situation at a scrimmage, the crowd applauded the hard-nosed running it’s used to seeing from its star.
“I just block it out and remember how hard I worked for those nine months, knowing that I’m strong enough to be able to take a hit or be able to make that cut,” Lattimore said.